Death-Row Inmate Accused Of Assault

POLICE NEWS

The Northern Correctional Institution was locked down after the inmate, identified by a state lawmaker as Daniel Webb, punched a captain in the head just before 10:30 a.m., said Brian Garnett, a department spokesman.

Garnett refused to identify the inmate, but state Rep. Karen Jarmoc, D- Enfield, who served as chairwoman of a task force on safety issues in the prisons, said she was notified that it was Webb, 47, who is awaiting execution for the 1989 murder of bank executive Diane Gellenbeck in Hartford.

Garnett declined to give details of the attack, but a department official with direct knowledge of the incident said that Webb was being escorted from the prison library to his cell when he "sucker-punched" the captain at least twice in the face.

Webb was not in handcuffs or shackles at the time, and death-row prisoners are not required to be restrained during routine escorts, the official said.

Webb had threatened the captain before and had been upset over what he and other death-row inmates perceive as an unfair lack of privileges on death row, the official said.

Garnett said four other staff members were injured while subduing Webb. All five staff members were taken to outside medical facilities for evaluation. None of the injuries appeared to be serious, officials said.